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Published on December 18, 2004 By dharmagrl In Blogging

Isn't it funny how you can go through life without really seeing things as they really are?  How one day you wake up and feel like you've had the veil lifted from in front of your eyes because you see things differently?

The things I see differently today are things that have been there all along...I just never really saw them for what they truly are before.  I saw parts of them, yes, but.....I never saw the whole thing. 

I cannot place the single event that made me see things in their true light. Thinking back on it, I can identify things that should have alerted me, but I failed to pay proper attention to them.

However, that's all retrospection and is really invalid.  What matters is that I can see now, and can take appropriate action...or non-action, as the case may be.  I'm big on less aggression, more passive resistance and neutraility these days;which I like to think is a direct result of more meditation and spiritual practice on my part.

There a Buddhist parable about 4 blind men and a elephant that accurately describes my situation.  These four were walking along a path in the Indian countryside when they came across an elephant blocking their way.  The first man reached out and felt the elephant's leg and declared the object in their way to be a tree.  The second felt the animal's flank and said that it was an impenetrable wall.  The third  grasped the elephant's trunk and cried out in fear that it was a snake, a huge snake that would surely kill them all.  The last caught hold of the tail, and wondered what the other three were wailing about, because all he felt was a piece of rope.  They sat on the path, not knowing what they should do, and after a while a stranger came along and asked why they were sitting there.  The four blind men explained their plight to him, each describing to him what they had experienced....and the stranger laughed and said:

"You fools!  There is no tree or wall or rope, and there certainly isn't a snake.  It's an elephant, that's all!"

And he poked the elephant with his staff, made it move off the path and carried on his way.

 

 

I saw the whole elephant today. 


Comments
on Dec 18, 2004
Is good that your seeing better today And you might not have mentioned it for a reason, so feel free not to answer, but I'm going to ask anyways: What is it you see now? Since I assume you don't literally have an elephant at your house
on Dec 18, 2004

I think it is so healthy that you are "big on less aggression, more passive resistance and neutrality." Is it just me, or do these tidbits of wisdom, contentment, and awareness present themselves more often the older we get?

I cannot help but be mystified by the parallels in my life and yours, dharma. This past week, my daughter brought home a library book from school called, "Seven Blind Mice." It proceeds to tell exactly the same parable you relayed. The rope, snake, wall, and tree were all there, along with pillar (leg), spear (tusk), etc. On the very last page:

"The Mouse Moral: Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole."

 

on Dec 18, 2004
Good for you! I wish I could see my elephant. Will you be able to poke yours with your staff and get him out of your way?
on Dec 18, 2004

You have seen the Elephant.  And we are wiser.  You are indeed going through a great revelation.  Of Self.

And thank you for sharing with us! We dont see the elephant very often, so when someone points it out to us, it is all the better!

on Dec 18, 2004

you might not have mentioned it for a reason

I deliberately didn't mention it.

Is it just me, or do these tidbits of wisdom, contentment, and awareness present themselves more often the older we get?

I think that they've always been there, but we have to be older in order to see them for what they really are.

 

Will you be able to poke yours with your staff and get him out of your way?

No, but now that I see him, I can walk around him and otherwise avoid him.

You have seen the Elephant. And we are wiser. You are indeed going through a great revelation. Of Self.

My self-revelation has been ongoing for a number of years....but it's been very prominent the past few months.  I'm enjoying it.  I'm throwing myself into it...and I'm having fun doing so.  I have found the path I'm supposed to walk, and I'm pretty happy to trudge along.

on Dec 19, 2004
I'm glad you were able to poke the obstacle out of your way.... hopefully it will be smooth sailing from now on!
on Dec 19, 2004
British soldiers have a very old expression that dates from the campaigns fought in India and the middle-east. There's a certain pattern of artillery fire they used with their old-school breach loading cannons called The Elephant Walk. When a soldier says "I've seen the elephant walk" it means he's been to war, and has had life-changing experiences. As you pointed out, different people see the elephant in different ways, but your attitude is forever changed when you see it walk.
on Dec 19, 2004

As you pointed out, different people see the elephant in different ways, but your attitude is forever changed when you see it walk.

Exactly.

Once you have seen things in their true light; once you have seen 'the elephant walk'...you can never go back to how you were before you saw it.  EVERYTHING seems a little different.

 

on Dec 21, 2004
Beautiful article Dharma... good for you.